By Olabisi Abiodun Akinwale:
Butterflies- Day 13
Of love, Mirror & Melodies
I have learnt to sniff red roses
to survive the loneliness that drowns a heart,
learnt to pattern the stars into names
to keep memories away from fire.
the little I know about loving is my mother
pressing prayers to my chest as bulletproof
& carrying my body like egg on nights
the moon holds more thorns than light.
she said that’s the way to be love, to smell love,
& grow into something that tenders & nourishes.
& it’s how I could hear your voice in a sea of voices,
carve your face in a congregation of faces,
& tint a room to carry the smell
of your presence in your absence.
though our palms are no safe place to bury a touch
but I’ll reach for your skin in the unseen,
trace every route that leads to music on your body
& not lose track of every touch & how it sensate healing,
I’ll hold your hands under streetlights
& not remember the chaos between bodies & lights.
& it’s because you’re the only image
that leaps out of my mirror with a song,
because I see you in purple places in my head
every time my soul waxes in art & beauty
& because loving you is like wine
& my heart gets fresher with every melody
that mimics the way you do you to me.
© Olabisi Abiodun Akinwale
Undiluted Poet
#undilutedpoetry